Insurers tap cloud analytics for fast, affordable fraud prevention

SAS® Fraud Framework for Insurance available as SaaS

Marlow, UK
(Jul 15, 2015)

Combating claims fraud is difficult and costly for insurers. But not for organised crime rings, which find insurance fraud to be a low-risk, high-return enterprise. Undetected insurance fraud is already costing the UK an estimated £2.1 billion every year, so proactively tackling fraud can make a real impact to profitability.

To provide fraud analytics more quickly and affordably, SAS is now offering SAS® Fraud Framework for Insurance via the cloud. This new option not only increases investigator efficiency and lowers cost of ownership, but also does so securely, using the SAS Cloud software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering.

Recognising the importance of tackling claims fraud, Grange Insurance wanted to implement a solution quickly. The company – which offers auto, home, life and business insurance protection to policyholders across 13 US states – worried that installing a traditional on-site solution would take months. It was also concerned the installation would involve procuring hardware, managing installation and configuration, and require excessive internal IT resources. In opting for a cloud-based fraud detection solution, Grange was able to make SAS Fraud Framework for Insurance available in weeks instead of months.

"Addressing claims fraud is essential for all insurers. SAS Fraud Framework for Insurance helps us more accurately detect potentially fraudulent activity," said Ken Kozek, Vice President of Claims at Grange Insurance. "In addition, the pre-built fraud analytical models enabled us to implement the solution quickly."

Analysts across many industries, including insurance, point to a continued shift of IT budgets away from in-house installations to cloud-based delivery models. CEB TowerGroup research shows that 59 percent of insurance firms expect increased spending on cloud solutions technology over the next few years.

David Hartley, Director of Insurance Fraud Solutions, SAS, said: "We know we can save insurers up to two per cent of their claims spend, which is a significant amount given that normally 75-80 per cent of their total spend is on claims and claims servicing. For example, one major UK insurer has managed to save more than £100 million in a single year partly as a result of using SAS Fraud solutions.

"Now these benefits, including significant savings, can be felt much quicker as hosting solutions via the cloud allows for much faster deployment, helping insurers that might otherwise have struggled with IT implementation. One UK insurer we worked with took just three months to get fully up and running."

About SAS

SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative analytics, business intelligence and data management software and services, SAS helps customers at more than 83,000 sites make better decisions faster. Since 1976, SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.